The Sobrato Family Foundation has announced grants totaling nearly $4.5 million to twenty-seven Silicon Valley organizations working in the areas of education, career development, and human services.

The grants include two-year grants of $500,000 each to selected charter school operators in East San Jose, Redwood City, Morgan Hill, and other communities where low-income and non-fluent English-speaking students experience high levels of academic growth and achievement; recipients include KIPP, Downtown College Prep, ACE Charter Schools, and Voices College-Bound Language Academy. In addition, the California Charter Schools Association was awarded $50,000 to conduct a study of potential charter school facility options in Santa Clara County; New Leaders, Bay Area received $325,000 for a program to help develop outstanding principals in the South Bay; and Santa Clara University was awarded $100,000 to complete the design and planning for a three-year professional residency and master's program for novice teachers in Catholic schools in the San Jose diocese.

"These grants reflect the family's deep commitment to high-quality education for low-income and English Learner students," said Kenji Treanor, senior program officer for education at the foundation. "To improve outcomes for these students in our region, we are focusing on building leadership capacity — bringing strong and effective principals and a pipeline of well-trained, enthusiastic teachers into our local schools — as well as increasing the number of high-quality options available to parents and students who seek a college-preparatory education."

In addition, the foundation awarded $75,000 to the Opportunity Youth Partnership of Santa Clara County to bolster career planning for youth between the ages of 16 and 24; $80,000 to the Redwood City School District to establish a United Way of the Bay Area SparkPoint Center; and $55,000 to Puenta De La Costa Sur in support of its ninth annual Youth Leadership and Employment Program cohort, which provides job readiness, employment, and enrichment to at-risk youth in rural San Mateo County.

For a complete list of grant recipients, visit the Sobrato Family Foundation website.